I have found a way for people to save and invest cheaply and flexibly. All that remains is to get your psychology handled. This is simple, but not easy. You have to train your brain to accept that yes, you will become great with money, you will stick to the path and you won’t let your monkey mind get in the way.

I’m proud to serve on The Debt Panel of The National newspaper in the UAE, but it can be depressing. Almost every question is from someone who has over-loaded themselves with debt and cannot see a way out. This week’s question was a classic example of this.

Who would benefit from this post? Share here: Share on facebook Share on linkedin Share on twitter Share on whatsapp Share on email The end of service gratuity is a relic of the old UAE that, along with the one/two rent cheque, hasn’t quite gone the way of the dinosaurs yet. Before we get to …

Who would benefit from this post? Share here: Share on facebook Share on linkedin Share on twitter Share on whatsapp Share on email Click to listen to Steve debate the trustworthiness of financial advisors… with the king of financial advisors. Recently the CFA Institute (which oversees the Chartered Financial Analyst qualification) released an interesting survey …

Here’s a complete overview of investing by yourself, from mindset to transaction fees. If you go it alone, you’re going to have to find some knowledge and discipline. It’s worth it though, to avoid the hidden fees and exit penalties in the plans sold by most UAE banks and financial advisors. It has never been easier to invest cheaply and effectively by yourself.

This week, I explain how to invest with index funds and ETFs. There’s only space for 300-400 words, so this is probably the most concise guide I will ever produce. I had to leave a lot out, but what you’re getting here is exactly “the essentials”.

This is a great article from Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence featuring us and many other voices of reason in the UAE market. It discusses some of the problems with the selling of personal savings plans here and why there is reason for cautious optimism about the future.

Financial advisors are often trying to get expats to invest in long-term savings plans. They sound good in theory but 99% of the time they are completely inappropriate. You will probably either make unimpressive gains or lose money. So just say no and tell your friends to say no too. Here’s why. Almost no financial advisor on commission is going to tell you this, which is why I have to.